


Loki-Gabrielkvidha

by Thette



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alliterative Poetry, Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, Epic Poetry, Gabriel (Supernatural) is Loki, Gen, Hrynhenda, Old Norse, Old Norse Verse, Poetry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-16
Updated: 2013-11-16
Packaged: 2018-01-01 18:11:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1047011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thette/pseuds/Thette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I was inspired by the connection between Loki and Gabriel in Supernatural, and decided to write a short poem in the Old Norse meter hrynhenda. The Loki-Gabrielkvidha tells the story of the war between the archangels, Gabriel's flight from Heaven, his time as Loki and his ultimate redemption.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Loki-Gabrielkvidha

**Author's Note:**

> I gave this to Richard Speight Jr at Aecon 4. (I can't believe I did that. I said "I bet you have tons of women who write you poetry, but I hope I'm one of the few who does it in Old Norse verse.") Poetry geekery in the endnotes. Originally posted at Rosemaryfic on LiveJournal 2013-05-30.

Hear the tale as told by skald-kings  
Truth of Liesmith’s fall from sky-vault  
Heaven’s trumpet, Mary’s herald  
Held in grace and felled by ardor  
Righteous son fought bane of brothers  
Banned the morning star of darkness  
Sword of guarding fire was soaring  
Silver tongue took ill-gained hiding  
  
Holy witness, heathen veiling  
Hallow’d brother of Galdra-father  
Trickster’s cloak was proudly taken  
Tried the prideful, twisted justice  
Hasteful mistletoe betrayal  
Torn from Aesir’s horn of plenty  
Water angel, endless wand’rer  
Walk’d the Earth in mirthful sorrow  
  
Fenrir’s father, holy brother  
Found his will, a sounder purpose  
Bravely standing, singing swan song  
Slain by hand of fallen angel  
Hear the tale as told by skald-kings  
Truth of ruthless, stark redemption  
Charcoal broken, barren feathers  
Blood to save the human saviors

**Author's Note:**

> A bit of poetry geekery: Hrynhenda is a development of drottkvätt, the traditional royal meter. It has four stressed syllables per line, and the last one is a trochee (stressed-unstressed). I've chosen to work quite strictly with a trochaic tetrameter (four trochees per line). A stanza is eight lines. Different narratives can be interwoven within a stanza, but this particular poem has a single narrative. The more kennings (poetic synonyms), the better, and they can be complex with added adjectives and multiple references. The odd lines have a half-rhymed consonance (same consonant in a stressed syllable, not necessarily the same vowel), and the even lines have a full internal rhyme. Two stressed syllables on the odd lines should alliterate with the first stressed syllable on the following even line. All vowels alliterate; st, sp, sk and s (followed by any other letter) do not alliterate with each other.
> 
> List of kennings  
> Loki: Liesmith, silvertongue, Odin's brother, Fenrir's father  
> Gabriel: Heaven's trumpet, Mary's herald, holy witness, water angel  
> Michael: Righteous son, sword of fire  
> Lucifer: Bane of brothers, morning star, fallen angel  
> Odin: Galdra-father (Galdr: spell song, incantation)


End file.
